He never spoke at all. Not a single word.
He sighed sometimes. Hummed in thought, but never spoke.

He stared. He lifted my arms and bent my knees.
He stared with a frown at my body.
His face was stern and he bit his tongue.

My master never spoke to me, and I never spoke in return.
My master stared seriously at me, and I returned his gaze silently.

Time passed and still he only stared. Sometimes scribbling
on a nearby scrap of paper. Never speaking.

He removed my arm and grimaced at it for a long time.
I could only watch as he did. Time passed and I remained there.

Eventually he replaced it, reconnecting it properly and testing
that it moved correctly. I glanced at it as it moved. It seemed
unchanged. I couldn't understand the purpose so I simply stared
back silently. Eventually he did the same with my leg.
Again, nothing changed.

More time passed. He looked at me less and less, eventually only
in glancing, as if checking to see if I was still there. Finally
he stopped looking altogether.

I sat. I stared at his hunched back. I stared but he didn't.
Then he left. But returned again shortly after.

Finally turning back to me he once again removed my arm.
Then my leg. But in return he attached something else.
Something new. Something I'd never seen before. It was shaped like
an arm. It moved like an arm. It wasn't my arm, but it acted like it.
He replaced my leg while I was staring at that unfamiliar arm.
Giving it a little kick as I looked on, I couldn't help but turn my gaze
back to him.

As I looked back, a gentle smile formed on his stern face.
I couldn't help but return it tenfold.

My master never spoke to me, but he only thought of me.
That's my first memory of my master.

_____________________________________________

Comments?

Last edited by Sciver on Fri Nov 27, 2015 5:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Feo sat watching her master tinkering with yet another old part behind the counter,
no doubt recovered from some junk bin or garage sale somewhere. It was to be expected,
as the proprietor of a refurbished parts shop. He glanced up only long enough greet a
walk-in before returning to his work. Like most, the customer was carefully inspecting
the various cases and shelves and their contents. Her shinki companion, an olive-painted
Howling, didn't seem terribly enthralled with the search-for-noting-in-particular.

Jogging over, she climbed up the desk where Feo sat, across from the shop counter.
"Tenrou," the Howling announced to the black and grey shinki. "What's it like living in
a junk shop? Oh! Sorry, I don't mean your stock is junk..."

"It's fine. None of it would be here if someone hadn't thrown it out. Of course what you
see on the shelf is all in perfect working order. I'm Feo, and it's more eventful than
you might think just to look at it," she waved over to her master, who was still
quietly hunched over an old part. As she motioned, the dog-like shinki noticed deep jagged
gashes and scrapes along Feo's back.

"How did that happen...?" she gave a concerned expression.

Glancing over her shoulder, Feo finally nodded. "A gift from my master." she said with an
difficult smile, as if recalling. There was silence, but the concern on Tenrou's face was
practically audible in its own right. Feo waved dismissively, "No judgements until you
hear the story."

Another long pause, "...Okay."

"It was a few years ago, we'd just moved here and set up the shop. Not many people knew
about us yet, so we were competing in the local tourney for publicity. I was using parts
from the shop's stock..."

*****

"If we win this tournament, everyone across the region will know our faces. We'll be able
to attract tons of customers, Feo," commented her bespectacled master. With the small
treasure trove of parts they'd brought, they'd shot up through the ranks with little effort.
The were in the semi-finals now, preparing for their next match in the competitors lobby.
Just three matches between them and local celebrity. This opponent had also fought her way
here, beating all challengers along the way though. Just having a variety of weapons wouldn't
be enough from here on.

Their names were called to the arena.

Their opponent was a lightweight speed oriented scrapper with a preference for close combat,
so Feo had opted to counter those tactics rather than trying to compete directly. She'd never
be able to outrun her, so instead Feo grabbed as much defence as she could carry.

The terrain formed between Feo and her opponent, and the buzzer sounded. Time to work.
She immediately dashed backward and skirted a corner, knowing her enemy would be speeding
straight for her any second. Ducking just behind the corner of the dilapidated holographic
building she readied her pistol. Tense seconds passed before suddenly a blur of white shot
past. With little chance to react, the opposing shinki immediately took a single shot to the
shoulder, but the following two were easily dodged.

Feo backed away, firing shots in time with her steps, to keep the white blur busy, but the
gap was closing. Nearing the edge of the building, she dashed to the right, straight into a
blocked-off alleyway. No escape from here now. Her opponent appeared at the opening staring
cold as ice. Half a beat and she was dashing forward, knife first. Feo's final shot was easily
parried. She was ready for a close fight, though. She'd prepared for it. She immediately
activated her barrier--just in time to block a fast swipe from white's knife, and one more.

This was the chance. There would be one more swipe. She always swung in threes. Rather than
defending with her nearly drained shield, Feo ducked left, pulling her sword and flooring
the white shinki with it. Next was the make-or-break play. Getting greedy and trying to finish
the match immediately wouldn't work. White would be able to counter as she got to her feet,
and Feo wouldn't survive that, but that only works if she has something to counter.

Feo took a half step back, just enough delay for white to get to her knees. A quarter second
later--ATTACK NOW! Just before white could get her hands on the ground to push off, Feo's
large katana drew across her back at full force. The former white blur collapsed, and the match
was concluded. The final scores were awarded, and Feo would move on to the finals.

*****

"Wait, I thought you were going to tell me how you got those cuts!" Tenrou interrupted.

"I'm getting to it. I'm getting to it. Be patient. My opponent for the finals was a heavy..."

*****

"Master, I need to use this!" Feo dragged out the back-mounted gear. It was a large pair of
vicious claws on equally impressive arms. A massive maul was sheathed behind.

"I can't let you use that one. I haven't checked it out yet." he replied, calmly.

"But look at it, it's practically brand new! It's not even scuffed!"

"No. Sorry. Not that one. You'll have to find something else." Soon after, they were called for
the finals. Just as the match was about to begin, Feo grabbed the heavy back gear and mounted it.
Her master could only sigh, resigned that nothing could be done about it now.

After some grappling, the match seemed to be going well, for Feo. She'd just pinned her opponent
and reached behind for the maul, ready to end it early. Suddenly she seized. She spasmed violently
the moment the claw gripped the maul at her back.

"Shit!" the master shouted, pushing past the security that tried to block him as he lept over the
spectator barrier and reached into the ring. Swatting away the opponent's shinki who was about to
use the situation to her advantage, Feo's master ripped his glasses of, snapping the thin frames
and using a jagged piece to pry off the mounted gear. It was only after her seizing subsided that he
noticed his profusely bleeding hand and the irritable hand on his shoulder, ushering him out of the
arena.

*****

"We were disqualified for direct interference. The gear I'd switched at the last second had a ground
fault. I can never use back-mounted equipment again. Circuits got fused. I nearly died," Feo grinned.

"That's awful! Why are you smiling!?" Tenrou scolded.

"Because that was the day I learned that my master would never hesitate to protect me, even if he got
hurt in the process. Since then I've always trusted his word. If I ever get the chance, I'll protect
him just the same. Until then, I'll wear these scars like a badge. They're a reminder of how much
my master loves me." Feo nodded slowly, retaining a soft smile.

"I'm glad it had a silver lining in the end," the customer, Tenrou's master, chimed in from behind.

"Hee hee, I didn't know I'd attracted such a large audience," Feo stated, causing the woman to glance
around at the still-empty shop. "Comparatively speaking, anyway." Feo gestured to her body.

"Oh, yes," the woman chuckled in return, "Well, Tenrou, are you ready? We need to be going."

===================================

Well? I wrote it through the night, so I'm not sure if I remained fully coherent, or got too overly wordy... in any case, my second shinki tale is writ. I hope you enjoyed.

the white blur was left intentionally ambiguous because I honestly didn't have a strong opinion on which shinki would best fit the role.

I picked Arnval internally simply because she's generally paired with Strarf as a wavemate.
All that I really decided about the character, who may eventually be officially named White Blur, is that she's a speed oriented close combat blitzer. Her major weakness is that she expends all of her energy making as many attacks as possible in a short time, which leaves her open for a moment while she regains her composure and balance. ( Basically she's a stock Battle Masters knife user AI with gofast parts. =p )
___________________________________________________

EDIT: New WIP fiction!

Kiva crept slowly, carefully over the rubble. It was always best not to attract too much attention, even if there was none to be seen. Crouching near the asphalt, she peered under a long since disused vehicle. It was difficult to see the other side through the brush. Leaning against the rusted frame, she slid along it to the taller end, gripping her knife and pistol tight in either hand. She lunged around the edge as quietly as possible. Clear. She relaxed slightly, standing full height. It had always been dangerous entering the cities. Too many nooks for things to hide.

Finally she made her way into the looming glass structure. These were generally the best places to find parts for circuit repairs. Most of the stuff inside was scrap, but some could be salvaged. The lower levels of the structure, like the street outside, were mostly filled with creeping vegetation, but after cautiously scaling several flights of stairs she came to a level that looked promising.

The floor was mostly bare, and even better, this level had an array of smaller rooms, each outlined by shells of what were probably temporary walls at one time. None were left intact now of course. Kiva glanced quickly over the area, spotting a few desks which hadn't collapsed from wear. Little of any use in the drawers she could open, and most of the computer boxes were too corroded to be of use.

Finally she spotted one that appeared to be relatively clean on the outside. With some effort she noisily broke free the cover and peered inside. Some of the boards looked usable. Her final intrusion had not gone without notice, however, as a loud crash indicated something landing through the hole in the ceiling. Kiva quickly pried a board free from the metal enclosure with her knife and placed it hastily in her satchel. Making for a quick exit, she leapt out the shattered glass window, gripping the reaching vines on the way out. The plants were hardly well attached enough to hold her and they tore away from the building as she fell.

She slowed enough to get a better grip at least, allowing her weave back into the gargantuan structure, but her pursuer was close behind. It's shrill scream was no comfort at all as it easily clawed its way into her level. She barely made it into the stairwell before it slammed through the door and straight into the wall behind. With precious fractions of a second gained from its dazed and enraged cry she jumped the barriers, dropping floor to floor, entire landings at a time. Finally she ducked out of the building and onto the street.

***

Mita stared intently through the dimly lit digital scope of her rifle. It had been four hours since Kiva entered the ancient city. She cycled the display modes, pausing momentarily with each to register the information she was seeing.

Various colored blobs indicated heat blooms here and there through the streets, now mostly covered with undergrowth.

Bright green images shown barely discernible, save for the shadows which now were clear.

A blue scene devoid of any yellow.

Blackness with speckles of grey.

Finally the view returned to standard color. No sign of Kiva in infrared, nightvision, radio frequency imaging, or motion differential from this vantage. She'd picked the spot with the most cover for herself, but it left her with poor visibility between two dilapidated buildings. The street ahead was mostly straight, but anything could lie around those corners. She cycled through the displays once more. This time she caught some movement. A dust plume it seemed. Switching back she spotted some increased ambient heat on the left, and finally she spotted an EMF signature which could be Kiva, showing as a small yellowish blob near the building's edge.

Silence. It was too far to detect any sound. Finally Kiva rounded the turn onto the street. Mita leaned into the rifle with anticipation.

Closer.

Just a few more steps.

There.

Mita squeezed the trigger and the atmosphere exploded.

***

Kiva's legs ached as she scrambled over the mottled brush and pavement, the freakish horror lumbering after. There was a rush of wind and a spatter of hot red fluid, followed shortly by the echoing crack of the gunshot. Kiva's knees gave out beneath her as she gasped and panted. She glared warily at the chaser, fearful its tenacity might animate it once last time. The only movement she could attribute to it was the lazy expansion of its bloody puddle. It had no discernible eyes or nose, but it certainly had teeth. Its head was wide and somewhat flat. Its body was at least three meters, with twice as many legs, each ending in a blade-like spoke.

An indeterminate number of seconds, or hours passed as she lay there staring.

"We bagged a big one this time."

It took a moment for Kiva to calculate the proper form of response her current state of mind, "Took you long enough. Were you hoping to claim me as salvage too?" Kiva nodded to her bleeding shoulder. The shot had clipped her, just through the skin it seemed.

"Anyway, we need to leave before anything else shows up. We'll come back for the carcass after we get you patched up." Mita explained, offering a hand. Kiva stood, and off they limped, back through the forest toward home.

Notes: This is an experimental piece exploring dialogue as a story by itself.
Disclaimer: Not shinki related.
===========================================================

A Practical Romance

In 90 Arguments

"Hey, marry me." "What?""Marry me.""Why? I never thought you were the type of person to have a secret crush or anything.""I don't. It just makes sense, is all. We're not related. We know each other better than anyone else ever will. We get along better with each other than anyone else. We're basically married anyway.""That's not... What if I don't feel that way about you?""Neither do I, but so what?""I want to be with someone I care about.""Like your last girlfriend?""Well... not her specifically, but yeah something like that.""You hated her.""No I didn't! We just didn't feel like staying together.""That's what I mean though. You were really hot for her at first but soon enough you were looking for any excuse to be somewhere she wasn't.""That was after we stopped working.""Yeah. But that's also why you didn't work. You didn't even like her but it took you a while to figure it out, because she was new.""Well... I liked her at first.""Did you though?""I thought so... yes. I did.""She didn't change. Neither did you. You and her are both the same people you were before. You just realized you didn't like her.""No. I. Okay you might have a point about her.""And all the other girls you were with too. Think about it.""Maybe they just turned out to not be what I thought I wanted.""Yeah that's exactly my point. You always want someone whose a certain way, and no matter how much they are, you always break up because you're bored.""Well sure, but that's just how breakups go.""You ever get bored with me?""Tch, yeah, all the time.""I don't mean are you ever bored at the same time as me, I mean do you ever get sick of being around me."" 'No.' ""Honestly.""Well. I mean... I guess sometimes yeah. Everyone does at some point though right?""Yeah. Everyone wants to be alone sometimes, or just not around someone specific.""So what's your point then?""More than any of your past girlfriends?""Y-... No, I guess not.""So you and me work better together than any relationship you've ever been in with someone you 'loved.' ""Ok, fine, sure. Whatever. But what about sex then? You wanna have sex with me?""Do you?""No!""Never?""I mean I thought about it once, but... well no not really.""Neither do I. It would be weird to just do it.""You're not making sense anymore.""I mean, it would be weird because we have no reason to.""That doesn't help.""You thought about it once, so its not like you want to not do it, right?""Well, yeah but it'd be weird. I mean, why would we?""Exactly.""...Ok I see what you meant there but that doesn't help your case.""Look, my point is, no one knows you better than me and no one knows me better than you. I mean, there's probably nothing about us that would surprise either of us.""Yeah I guess.""Hell, we've shared porn before.""It's weird when you say it.""Yeah. That's my point. Its weird when you think about it.""Huh?""If we were married it wouldn't be weird. We could have sex. A lot of sex. Or a little. You know, whatever we really wanted.""Ok, fine, but why get married if its about sex? Why not just do it anyway?""Its not, and you said it: it would be weird.""Ok, so you're saying, we could have sex even though we never really wanted to, and we enjoy hanging out, and that's why we should get married.""Yeah.""How is that any different from now?""Its not. Not really. Did you think it would be different for any of your girlfriends?""Of course!""How?""W-...well... I guess it wouldn't... I mean, I'd just be living together with one of them...""With someone you actually kind of don't like.""...Yeah kind of.""Possibly for years."".....""How many times have I crashed at your place?""Shit, how should I know? All the time. I mean shit you lived with my family for a year!""How many times have I let you stay at my place?""Well there was that time I locked myself out of the apartment... then the exterminator...""Ever complain?""That would have been rude.""When has that ever stopped us from saying anything before?""...But I'm not in love with you.""A lot of marriages start out that way. Can you really say there's anyone else you could stand to spend the rest of your life with?""Why does it have to be the rest of my life? I could get a divorce.""Would you marry someone you planned on divorcing later?""Okay, no, you have a point there.""You think you'd be unhappy with me?""I... don't know.""No. You can't know anyway. The best you can do is guess, maybe hope. You know I'll always back you up, but would you really hate having me at your side too?""Nah. Nah I guess not.""So?""Ok, you make a logical argument, but I feel like if I agreed with you I'd be submitting to something I don't actually want, just because you talked me into it.""Then think about it.""I am thinking about it. At least I am now. Because you talked me into it. ""Marry me.""Alright, but you're weird for proposing like this and out of nowhere.""You're weirder for accepting."